In this episode, we focus more on Dean, on how he deal with his Cain Mark and the fear of wielding the blade. Sam on the other hand, take on an case on his own. Surprisingly, it concern with the Man of Letters and Abaddon herself. full review credit by Betterwithpopcorn.com.

This week Misha Collins made his directing debut, and colour me impressed. He and writer Adam Glass delivered a fantastic episode that not only filled in more of the really underdeveloped Men of Letters history, but also renewed flagging interest in Abaddon, reestablishing her as the season’s big bad. All in all, an interesting, tightly constructed and visually on point episode.

Something that I really feel happened this week was Sam thawing out and trying to end the cold war between him and Dean. He is dropping the “strictly professional” behavior and showing concern for him and his health, and wanting them to stick together. Just a few weeks ago, Dean would’ve been thankful for this, but now it seems he’s got way too much else on his plate to even notice.

That’s because he was far too busy trying to ignore the withdrawal symptoms from his contact with the First Blade last week. He is worn out, distracted and unable to think about much else than finding Abaddon and getting this whole saga behind him. I think that he refused that hunt because he knew that he’d be more of a liability than proper back up, and relying on him could’ve gotten Sam killed.

Instead he hits a bar, intending to distract himself with old vices (his drinking problem is back in a big way). Instead of the stress free evening of free peanuts, whiskey and pool that he was looking for though, he ends up having to deal with Crowley and his usual charm. Crowley isn’t there just to be annoying though, as usual he has an agenda. He sets up a test to see if Dean will save him by having a demon pose as a hunter. Dean runs interference to send the guy packing, which Crowley sees as a positive sign that he can proceed with whatever nefarious plan he has cooking.

Meanwhile in the land of Sam, he takes a case in which regular small town people suddenly turn into violent impulsive psychopaths. After a while, their particular breed of evil reminds him of is time spent without a soul. Turns out that there is a plot in town that has been happening since the 50s – Abaddon’s minions have been harvesting people’s souls. Not only that, but we find out that this is where Henry Winchester, Josie and Abaddon first crossed paths.

After learning about all of these past events from an ex-nun who witnessed them first hand, Sam visits the now abandoned convent to put an end to the soul harvesting scheme. He finds out that this is but the tip of the iceburg, as Abaddon has many of these operations running all over the world, and she intends to use these souls to create a demon army.

Some Random Thoughts:

Thank god that someone on this show finally had some sense to record the exorcism on their phone! I’ve been saying for ages that there needs to be an app for that

Loving Josie’s character. So sad that she’s long dead now, she was someone I could definitely relate to

I’m glad that they’ve really truly returned to the season’s main story line. I had started to forget why we’re suppose to care about Abaddon taking over in the first place, and this episode really reminded me of her cruelty.

It’s weird that Soulless Sam just started hooking up with more women and being slightly more ruthless while these people went completely nuts with only the slightest provocation. I think it speaks to his strength of character, and how even without an emotional component keeping him right, Sam is a character with a strong logical and ethical side.

The shots were beautiful this week. I’m really impressed with Misha’s first time direction

This episode was in perfect balance and felt really cohesive, which is a rarity in this season, with episodes like last week’s feeling a bit like a crazy hodge podge of a bunch of different things

I’m really curious to see what else Crowley has in store for Dean

I’m sad that Jake wasn’t a real hunter. He reminded me of a young Dean, and he could’ve been interesting to have around.

Misha Collins’ live tweeting comments during the episode were pure gold. Go on and read through them if you need to have a giggle.

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